


A Darkness Within

by RJanke



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Mystery, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26329012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RJanke/pseuds/RJanke
Summary: "I always knew though. I always saw him for what he really was. I could see that darkness within him."Jack Rhodes, a detective rumored to be overly obsessed about solving a decades-old cold case, transfers into the LAPD. Adamant he's put his cold case obsession to bed, Chloe soon realises he appears to have replaced it with a new obsession; Lucifer.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	A Darkness Within

**Prologue**

_2012_

The bright, white lights of the facility were a stark contrast to the miserable, rainy, dimly lit car park outside. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust before he was clearly able to see the young woman sat at the front desk. She looked bored out of her mind; the reception wasn't exactly packed with visitors.

As he strolled up to the front desk, he picked up on her lifeless green eyes lighting up at the sight of him. She straightened from her slouched position in her chair and a welcoming smile appeared on her thin lips. "Good afternoon," she greeted.

"Hello there," he greeted in return, matching her welcoming smile with a warm one of his own. "I'm here to see Lois Donovan."

She looked at him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. "You're here to see Lois Donovan?" She questioned.

A wave of uncertainty flew over him as his eyes darted to the name of the facility, momentarily worried he had gotten the wrong place. The name matched the information he was given so he turned his attention back to the woman. "Yeah," he confirmed, "She a resident here unless… has something happened?"

"No, no, no, no, no," she was quick to prevent any misunderstandings. "You're right. She is a resident here. It's just… well, I've never known her receive any visitors. Do you mind me asking how you know her?"

"I don't." He answered, almost insisted, immediately. He paused before providing an explanation, reaching into his jacket pocket. "Detective Jack Rhodes, Houston PD," he introduced himself, presenting her with his badge, "I've just got a few questions for Miss Donovan."

"If this is about that horrific murder a few days ago, I can assure you that Lois had nothing to do with that," the woman responded, reaching for a book on the counter. "All our residents are signed in and out when they leave the grounds and are accompanied by staff at all times. Lois is too fearful to go out. She prefers to roam our grounds for her exercise and fresh air," she told him, pointing to the logs in the book.

Jack's blue eyes barely glanced down at the book she was showing him. "I'm not here about any murders," he informed her. As much as he hoped to one day be a homicide detective, he hadn't quite gotten there yet. "I'm actually working on a cold case of which Miss Donovan could prove useful."

"Right," the woman nodded, hesitantly returning the book to its original place on the counter. "I'll call through."

Jack responded with an appreciative nod as the phone went to her ear. His fingers drummed absent-mindedly against the counter as he waited for her call to end. Numerous thoughts flew into his mind; questions, theories and speculation. He had no idea how his face-to-face with Lois Donovan was going to go but it was too late to back out now. He had come so far.

"Detective?" The questioning tone of the woman at the front desk pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Jack returned, catching himself drumming his fingers against the counter and putting an immediate stop to it.

"They're just getting her ready for you," she informed him. "Someone will be through shortly."

"Thank you," Jack replied. He took a step back from the desk. He had clocked some armchairs in the reception area on the way in. They seemed to be the best place to wait.

"I feel I ought to warn you…" the young woman spoke up hastily, putting a stop to his venture from the front desk. He turned back to her inquisitively. "I'm not sure how useful she will actually be to you."

* * *

Lois Donovan was not, appearance-wised, what he had been expecting. He had been expecting tall and beautiful with long, wavy black hair, blue eyes which were full of life and pristine, flowing white clothing. The woman sat on the couch across the room from him was far from that. Her dirty blonde hair was shaggy and she clearly hadn't bothered to brush it that morning. Her clothing was dark and baggy, at least two sizes too big. Her hands were shaky as she brought her mug of tea to her lips and her fingernails were picked short. The only thing he had picture correctly about her was her blue eyes but they weren't full of life. They were drained, lifeless and cold as she tracked his movement across the room until he took a seat on the couch across form her.

He stared at her in silence for at least a minute before he caught himself, remembering where he was and why. "Miss Donovan, I'm-" he began to introduce himself but was cut off.

"Drop the formalities," she interrupted him, her tone harsh and dismissive, "Call me Lilith."

Jack faltered, he even went so far as to double-check his notes despite _knowing_ her name like his own. "You mean… Lois?" He hesitantly corrected her.

She scoffed. "That's a name I haven't heard in… oh, a lifetime," she told him with a crazed grin which quickly became an unsettling chuckle. "Lois was such a naïve, innocent little _girl._ Running around like she knew everything. Like nothing could hurt her. Like life was meaningless. So stupid. Blind to the reality around her."

"Miss Donovan, let's take this back on track," Jack guided her from her ramblings carefully. "I'm Detective Rhodes. I'm here to-"

"I know what this is about," she cut him off _again_ in a sing-song voice. He let out a heavy sigh in frustration. "This is about that young A-lister who went missing from his press tour and was found crucified. You know, everyone's out there mourning his death but if he was the humanitarian, do-gooder he was painted out to be, he's in a much better place. The same can't be said for the fate of his murderer when they die."

"You believe all that?" Jack questioned, a hint of disbelief in his own voice.

"You don't, I hear," she returned, almost challengingly.

"No," he answered simply.

"And your family?" She prompted.

"They're very big on seeing to believe," Jack answered.

"So was Lois. But be careful what you wish to see. What Lois saw changed her life. She died and I took her place," she told him and it was her unsettling comments which, once again, refocused Jack on what he was really there for.

"I'm not here to talk religion or murders," Jack corrected her, placing the file in his hands down on the coffee table between them. A visual reminder to keep him on track.

"Then to what do I owe this visit, Detective?" She questioned, her crazed grin returning.

"I'm here to talk about your son," he told her.

Her crazed grin vanished and her shoulders visibly tensed. "I don't have a son," she shot him down immediately.

"Your hospital records state differently," Jack countered, pulling said records out of the file and positioning them on the table so she could look at them. "Three years before you were admitted to a psychiatric unit, you had a son."

"I had a _demon_ ," she corrected him forcibly.

Jack frowned, pulling the copy of the birth certificate from the file. "You named him Nathaniel," he reminded her. "Correct me if I'm wrong, you know more about this than me, but the meaning of that name is 'Gift of God' or 'God had Given'."

"You've done your research," she laughed dryly. Jack simply raised an eyebrow at her, waiting patiently for a response he knew would come. "That was Lois' denial. _I_ knew the truth but, of course, she only saw the good in people. Even though he showed his true nature before he was born and starved his twin of nutrients in the womb and despite knowing the true identity of his father, she maintained that he was a _gift_. _I_ always knew though. _I_ always saw him for what he really was. _I_ could see that darkness within him. The darkness he shared with his father."

Jack officially felt like he was in well out of his depth. He'd been warned of her struggles with delusions and grandeur but he hadn't expected it to be so _dark_. Despite how unnerved and unsettled he was, he couldn't help but ask for more information. "His father?" His blue eyes fell on the copy of the birth certificate. A father's name was not stated and, from his notes, no one had ever got his identity from her.

"Evil that walks the Earth," she replied with a statement rather than the identity he was looking for.

"Does 'Evil' have a name?" Jack questioned. "Or an address?"

She laughed again. Loud and _demonic._ "You plan on tracking him down for your case?"

"I'm determined to get to the bottom of it," Jack told her. In his mind it was a promise, even though he knew the woman in front of him didn't care.

"If you're going to go face-to-face with Evil, you've got a whole lot to learn, kid."


End file.
